Motivation in Tennis

Motivation is a huge part of tennis. Players think so, coaches think so, and parents think so. Miguel Crespo and Machar Reid were so interested they ran a few tests and published them in the Br. J. Sports Med. 2007, in an article properly entitled “Motivation in Tennis”. We will briefly go over their findings.

Motivation is a very important psychological skill without which we wouldn’t do half of the strenuous things we do. Of course it comes along with things like drive, passion, persistence, competitiveness, effort, and desire to participate and win.

What is the importance of motivation? When coaches are asked what important psychological skills are needed in tennis they say fun and enjoyment, together with motivation and passion, self-confidence, positive thinking/self talk, positively managing mistakes, focus/concentration, emotional control, honesty/integrity, practice intensity, and keeping competition in perspective. Now that is a lot of things, but they are all related. Out of all these, when coaches of junior players were asked to list the hardest of those to teach, the majority said motivation. Which is true, how do you motivate an unmotivated kid?

What gets kids motivated to play? This is interesting because it varies among groups of people. Young tennis players seem to want to play to increase playing level, keep physically fit, enhance skills and make new friends, in that order. They also list things like satisfying parents or friends, feeling important, being popular, and earning rewards and prizes as secondary reasons for playing. Boys and girls differ too. Boys prefer competition, challenge, status, entertaining and rewards much more than girls do. Players over 12 are motivated by being popular, using tennis equipment, being around friends and satisfying parents to a greater extent than players under 12. Younger players also really want to be in good standing with their coach and perceive their role as tennis player positively unlike older players. So, it seems that reasons for playing are intrinsic and that extrinsic motivation comes with age. Age, gender and club atmosphere tends to influence motivation a lot. Boys on average are a lot less social and more competitive in groups, as I have noticed and age is definitely highlighted accurately here. I would even add that location influences motivation, not just the club. From personal experience, everyone in Florida is “going pro” no matter how much they believe in the fact themselves or exhibit potential for it, while players living in the north east tend to speak of playing for good colleges a lot more. These things are almost contagious.

What is goal achievement motivation? Goal perspective theory is one of the modern approaches to understanding motivation in tennis. This theory states that players that are “task-involved” define their progress in terms of how their skills have improved and how much they have learned versus “ego-involved” players who base their progress on things like doing better than others and being a lot better than everyone with minimal effort. This theory suggests that being “task-involved” is a more positive outlook for young players. Players that think this way perceive the sport as more important, and exert more effort playing. “Ego” players tend to experience more stress and have impaired concentration.

No less important is the climate surrounding the player, as it has to be motivational. It is basically how goals are structured in the players life, their training and competition situation as perceived by those around them. This climate is mostly created by close people like coaches and family members. Through the climate is how players seem to become either “task” or “ego” oriented. Players that grow up in a “task” oriented environment are less likely to burn out. This environment focuses on things learned and skill improvement and reinforces effort and directs players to focus on intrinsic rewards. The players in this environment have a better work ethic, more improvement, higher self confidence, satisfaction, enjoyment, persistence and sportsmanship. They are also happier with their coaches, peers and parents. “Ego” oriented environments emphasize results and outcomes, compare to other players, punish mistakes and recognize work of only the talented players which isn’t helpful for a team or club environment. This setting promotes out doing others and getting things without putting in the work. It detracts from player enjoyment, decreases their satisfaction with coaches and increases feelings of pressure. Self confidence also plunges as tennis performance goals are not met.

Tennis seems to become more “ego” oriented as players go from beginner to competitive. Evidently “task” system works for beginners and although “ego” may motivate competitive players more as they get older, coaches should refrain from using it and stick with the “task” method. The player’s support group has to foster positive patterns in players. They should address things like the meaning of success and failure. Reactions from parents and coaches after lost matches, extrinsic factors in training and player self esteem should all be spoken of and thought about. Tennis should be taught in an individual way promoting rewarding task involving environments based on skill level and drill difficulty. Practices should be stimulating, with a lot of variety of drills. Practices shouldn’t be overtly competitive but more cooperative, emphasizing effort and learning over beating other players. Helping individual players set realistic and measurable goals based on improvement and effort and autonomy in drill selection will help players stay in the “task” zone longer and out of the “ego” zone. It is also a good idea to mix up boys and girls in their practices, not keep it boys with boys and girls with girls. For variety on the one hand and to lessen the pressure that this gender exclusive sport places on kids that train together.

All in all, focus on yourself and how much you’re improving and how much you are learning. You will be a happier camper. And coaches and parents, teach don’t berate! You don’t want to be blamed for an early burn out!

ITF JUNIORS

Pictured: Itf player Valeria Pulido =)

Some new rules have come out regarding the International Junior Tennis Circuit that we have to catch up on, as a couple points catch the eye.

1. You have to be between ages 13-18 - pretty sure a few years back it was 14- 18
   
2. If you do not win a round in a tournament, you get no points, even if you have a bye or a walk over. If you win a round and then get a walkover, your can keep your points - It used to be that first round walkovers counted as a round if you won your second match
   
3. If you withdraw in the middle of a tournament in doubles or singles without a medical note, you will lose all points won in that tournament - this should stop players from skipping out on matches due to travel arrangements and what not, especially doubles
   
4. All matches are 2 out of 3 sets in singles with no break after the second set - there used to be a several minute break before the start of the 3rd
5. All doubles matches are 2 out of 3 sets with a ten point tie breaker for a third set and no ad scoring throughout the match - I think this is a shame, I think that ad scoring makes matches so much more interesting, it would almost be better if they implemented the 8 game pro set that collegiate tennis uses. The worst by far is the short sets used in some qualifying matches for challengers, sets to 4 games each. Those are the worst!
   
6. Players can only play one tournament a week - this will stop the extreme point chasers who don't win many matches but gain points in a lot of costly first rounds
   
7. Top 4 players from each nation should be in different sections of the draw so as not to play one another early in the tournament - this is fair although may prove difficult as there is an overwhelming number of Russian and American players in the draws these days
   
8. You can’t play 12 and under if you aren’t 10 years old - I don't know that many of the intense tennis parents will like this one
   
9. Can’t be internationally or regionally ranked if you’re under 12 - perhaps this will either stop some players from lying about their age to be the best 8 year old in the 12's to gain attention, or maybe it won't
   

Check out a link to an article about my friend's little sister - 7 year old tennis prodigy Amanda

There is a lot to cover, so if there is anything else you would like to know, go ahead and check out the official link

If you have any questions regarding the charity, or how to donate tennis racquets, visit TennisRacquetsforKids.org

Internet – Friend or foe?

Over the past couple years Internet has consumed us entirely. We rely on it for information, for meeting people, for keeping in touch with those we already know, paying our bills and consuming products online. We store all of our information there. Everything we Google is on record and everything we post and write about ourselves is free to the internet world. This is great, but this is also scary.

Internet is a blurry line today between the big brother that watches over us helping and the big brother that watches us reporting. Our consumer patterns perhaps help define our interests and customize to our individual needs, but our individual needs are often misread and misinterpreted, perhaps to the gain of others, some bad guys. People are now getting fired from their jobs based on their internet affiliations and social network information published online, defamation in a way, private life in a way, but all of a sudden punishable. For example, an employee of an Ottawa grocery chain was fired for his posts and affiliation with a “just for fun” Facebook group, despite his outstanding record offline. This definitely affects athletes as well. College athletes are closely administered by their school’s communication departments for inappropriate Facebook material and email content. This recent event that had to do with the election is proof of that. When a UT Football player posted a racist status update about Obama to his facebook profile. He may have meant it as a joke, but it is in writing and that is enough to look bad for the University. He was consequently kicked off the team.

The web is worldwide as it is called, and this is true for other countries. Recently Internet postings have affected junior tennis players in England. When the British Lawn Tennis Foundation cut off its funding to their top two junior tennis players in England, Naomi Broady and David Rice. They were being supported by a professional organization that paid for their achievements but also invested in their ideal, and thus they were expected to conduct themselves accordingly. Clearly hacking into their Facebook/Bebe accounts and digging up photos of them partying, drinking and eating junk food was unacceptable.

The problem is clear; you have to be responsible for what you represent about yourself online. The issue is not clear, is this monitoring of private lives justified? People can’t get hired, or get fired for revealing messages that can be read in several ways without proof? The solution is not clear. The Internet remains both friend and foe.